Improve wholesale profit margins through energy savings

I was reading a recent article on the USA Today website which highlights the effects that higher energy costs have on pushing up wholesale prices. Though the article focuses on the 0.3% increase in one month, the lesson is that energy costs are eroding buying power and slowing economic growth. The article further states that "A weak economy has contained inflation. Companies can't raise prices because demand for their products isn't strong enough."

 

It doesn't take a rocket scientist in business to know that these higher energy costs have a direct negative effect on a company's profits. This got me thinking about one of our most basic solutions at Aretas, which is monitoring for potential energy savings. At Aretas we made a conscious decision to include Temperature and Relative Humidity monitoring in all of our solutions so that future energy savings can be identified and action taken to improve profits at no extra cost.

 

My biggest challenge and surprise at times is the lack of interest or agility some companies show in making incremental improvements. Even though a solution like ours can have zero cost when coupled with other monitoring services or relatively low added cost when used alone, a quick recovery of the investment and long-term savings is often not brought to a decision makers attention. Part of my mission is to not only solve a company's immediate needs, but to bring to light other benefits they may not be aware of. How often do we all get too focused on our immediate roles of responsibility and not take the time to go above and beyond?

 

One of the great parts of my day is seeing the light-bulb turn on in a client's mind when they begin to understand the bigger picture that energy costs play, not only on wholesale prices but with improving corporate responsibility. When you can improve your wholesale profit margin and have other positive results like lowering a company's carbon footprint, environmental improvement steps and even benefiting from positive PR opportunities in one solution, why wouldn't you?

 

My challenge and mission will continue to be helping to provide solutions and education in a way that helps not only one department in a company, but as a whole when possible.

 

September 13, 2013 Energy costs push wholesale prices up 0.3% USA Today. Retrieved on October 18, 2013 from